The promise comes as figures today reveal that the amount big businesses pay has FALLEN for the fourth year in a row

The promise comes as figures today reveal that the amount big businesses pay has FALLEN for the fourth year in a row.

Leading companies in the London stock market’s FTSE 100 paid just 24.5% of their global profits in tax to governments around the world, down from 35.8% in 2009.

The shocking figures follow the recent Starbucks scandal, in which the coffee chain was shamed into stumping up £20million by customers because it paid virtually nothing into the UK Treasury.

Google and Amazon have also been in the firing line over the low level of tax the internet giants pay here.

Mr Miliband yesterday vowed to make it much easier for consumers to find out how much tax firms pay and to re-write the law to make sure they stump up their fair share.

He suggested that if the party wins power, Labour will stop big firms switching profits to countries with lower tax rates. He went on to explain that it was “scandalous” that multinationals can make huge profits in Britain yet not pay the right amount of taxes in Britain.

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Coff up: Starbucks

Mr Miliband added: “This has got to change and Labour will change it. We have to know how much tax people pay against how much profit they make.”

Mr Miliband said that the Coalition is right to seek international agreements to tackle the problem but Britain must also be prepared to act alone.

He told the BBC: “We’ve got to look at the rules on how companies distribute profits. Other countries like Denmark have a tougher approach. Our policy review is going to be looking at those examples and making sure that we act.

“We can’t have a situation where companies feel they can get away without paying their fair share.”

Accountancy group UHY Hacker Young studied the value of a firm’s global taxes charged as a percentage of global profits, to produce an “effective tax rate” of just 24.5%.

A spokesman said: “Companies always find ways to make tax payments as efficient as possible, which has helped chip away at their effective tax rates.”

- Ed Balls will stay as Shadow Chancellor until the next election, Mr Miliband said yesterday – ending speculation that his brother David could replace the bruiser.